Stimulus Funds Hit The Road

December 12, 2009|By Austin Bogues, abogues@dailypress.com 247-4536

NEWPORT NEWS — Work recently began on the widening of Fort Eustis Boulevard, a $24 million project that is the first local road construction to get under way with financing from the federal economic stimulus package that was approved in February.

The project will widen the narrow, winding, two-lane road into four lanes from Jefferson Avenue to Route 17. It comes at a time when Fort Eustis itself is expanding, which local planners say will substantially increase traffic on the boulevard.

Right now, the work is limited to clearing trees and building retention ponds for excess rainwater. Virginia Department of Transportation officials estimate that the project will be finished in April 2012.

The new road will feature a raised median and turn lanes. Officials for the military base said the construction would be helpful.

"If those lanes are going to expand, that would make it easier to allow more traffic to our gate," said Monica Miller Rodgers, a spokeswoman for Fort Eustis. "That will make it easier access to the installation for people coming off and on and base."

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization estimates that more than 20,000 people use the road each day.

Construction on Fort Eustis Boulevard is an example of what local officials say is the success of Hampton Roads in procuring stimulus money for projects that might not have gotten done otherwise. A host of other projects have funds and signed contracts but have yet to break ground.

"It was able to fill a gap in our transportation revenue shortfall," said Aubrey Layne, a regional member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board. "I think there were obviously added jobs. It did needed repairs and roadwork that we would not have been otherwise able to do."

Layne said the region received more than $180 million in funds for road projects and repairs. He said the Fort Eustis Boulevard project, at its peak, could be responsible for creating 75 jobs.

Dwight Farmer, HRTPO executive director, said that although money for projects is arriving slowly, the stimulus dollars are creating jobs. "We've got projects that have been languishing for a while," he said. "These are the kind of projects that truly get people to work and put engineers and trade crafters back to work."

Farmer acknowledged that there have been delays. Congressional officials have criticized Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for not spending the stimulus money allocated to Virginia fast enough.

Farmer said the projects take time. "Transportation infrastructure, even for a modest city street or country road project, normally takes years to get all the construction boxes checked," he said.

In addition to the Fort Eustis Boulevard project, pavement resurfacing is planned on roads in James City and on Mercury Boulevard in Hampton. Lane improvements are planned along Route 17 in Gloucester near the Courthouse area.

Also in the works are sidewalk repairs, lane improvements and traffic signal system updates in Isle of Wight and Newport News.

STIMULUS DOLLARS AT WORK

The widening of Fort Eustis Boulevard is the first local road project using federal stimulus funds. Some details: